Correct cyclist vs runner road/lane behaviour.

***I do not wear headphones***

I run on single track lanes quite often, and where I live (Lincolnshire - no traffic and few hills) is prime MAMIL territory. They (being often retired I assume) seem to hunt in vast mid-week packs.
Invariably, they seem to expect me to hurl myself into the nearest ditch when our paths meet, lest they lose their racing grouping/line/whatever.
I am interested in what people would consider to be the correct (and legal) behaviour here.

I assume that I should (as a pedestrian) be on the 'wrong' side of the road, facing traffic. This is where I place myself if there is traffic on the road (otherwise I run in the middle giving longest line of site).

Surely it cannot be acceptable for herds of cyclists to claim the ENTIRE road in this circumstance? I am constantly being sworn at/scowled at for daring to hold my 25% of the road.

Any comments, particularly from cyclists, would be great.
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Comments

  • Run on left hand side of road with traffic. That way they have to overtake you and you have no obligation to move out of their way, just as a cyclist has no obligation to get out the way of a car.
  • senidMsenidM ✭✭✭
    +1 with Mr Worry. If you are running against the traffic, on the RH side, then you're more of an obstacle to the unsighted riders in their "peloton", hence the coments. On the LH side you're just one more mobile pothole for them to contend with.

    My favourite response to cyclists who shout out to "warn" me, is to yell back "All that money to buy a carbon bike and you can't afford a fecking bell?"

    My own petpeeve is mountain bikers in my local Country Park, which has tarmac and loose gravel paths, who refuse to swerve on to the grass to pass me, but I have too! What is the point of a mountain bike if you won't ride it on grass? muppets.
  • > @senidM said:
    >
    > My own petpeeve is mountain bikers in my local Country Park, which has tarmac and loose gravel paths, who refuse to swerve on to the grass to pass me, but I have too! What is the point of a mountain bike if you won't ride it on grass? muppets.

    So what stops you running on the grass? i presume you had trainers on rather than high heels or roller skates.

    Common courtesy would be for both parties to yield and slow a little.
  • I've always been told to run towards the traffic which is quite terrifying around here I find drivers far worse than cyclists. 
  • senidMsenidM ✭✭✭
    Park Run Fan, nothing stops me from running on grass, trail runs my favourite, it's the "mountain-bikers" complete inability to swerve onto the grass just to overtake me that amuses me!
  • senidM said:
    +1 with Mr Worry. If you are running against the traffic, on the RH side, then you're more of an obstacle to the unsighted riders in their "peloton", hence the coments. On the LH side you're just one more mobile pothole for them to contend with.


    Worth bearing in mind that cyclists in groups are well used to avoiding stationary objects like parked cars or potholes, but running towards them at (say) 8-10mph when they're doing maybe double that towards you means they easily misjudge just how quickly the gap between you closes - some of the close calls will be down to that.

    Best to use common sense though - being on the inside of a sweeping turn is usually not a great place to be whatever the direction of traffic.  OTOH, if you're going uphill then the left is where the slower cyclists will be.

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  • Reg WandReg Wand ✭✭✭
    edited July 2017
    Rabbit - I am a driver, cyclists and runner, I use the roads for all three activities. You are absolutely right to run towards the oncoming traffic. That's what you're supposed to do. There are exceptions, for instance I swap sides for blind corners and horses or whatever common sense decrees is the better position in a given situation.

    The most important reason to run towards oncoming traffic is that you can see if they don't see you or not. This means you can save yourself by jumping in a ditch!

    Colin - Have you considered that some people live in areas that have no pavements and need to run on roads to run at all? I read a report once when someone in a car got hit by a car on a road. Maybe they should have been driving on the pavement?
  • DustinDustin ✭✭✭
    Do you feel the same about cyclists hit by a car?
    There is no excuse for cycling on the road while its open to traffic You can take yourself somewhere away from roads instead, or if that isn't practical, get a a turbo. 

  • Blimey, Coin's come out of his burrow again!

  • Reg WandReg Wand ✭✭✭
    He's an irksome little troll  :)
  • Christ that escalated quickly...

    Runner and cyclist here.  If I can avoid it though - I don't run on the road. It feels a lot riskier than cycling on the road.

    Always run facing oncoming traffic unless there's a blind bend.  I find that you get cars following so closely together that the first car obviously sees you and can avoid - but the car up his bumper only gets visibility of you when you're 10 feet away - so I'm always ready to throw myself into a hedge.

    Never had a problem with cyclists either - I do worry about runners I see running with the traffic and headphones in and wearing dull clothing.  

    Next time you meet the cyclists then a shout of good morning might break the ice.  It won't kill you to move over a bit will it - I'm sure the cyclists will be doing the same too.  

    If you go out with the mindset of 'bloody mamil cyclists hogging all of the road' then you'll likely reinforce it. 

    I've never sworn at a runner or had a problem with them.  
  • JT141JT141 ✭✭✭
    You should treat a peloton like a field of cows and raise your arms above your head while running erratically at them to assert your dominance.
  • DustinDustin ✭✭✭
    +1 for what cougie says.
    I've found motorists on the whole to be pretty good: there are a lot of country lanes near me, and I've noticed over the past 20+ years that more and more move over, or indicate pulling wide.
    By the same token as I hear and see further than a motorist probably can, on the rare occasions there is two way, I step into the hedge or bank so they can pass.
    Cyclists I find worse as a motorist: the tractors and such like pull over at intervals to let the build up of traffic pass, I've yet to see a group of riders do that.
    In mitigation, the past few summers I have heard cycle group leaders yell "runner on the left" to advise the peleton, so generally I think it's all getting better.

    As for runners with headphones on lanes, they are just idiots. Hearing is vital, on some lanes you hear traffic well ahead of seeing anything.
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    edited July 2017
    At a parkrun near me (Exeter Riverside) there was an incident the other week, which the run director had to post something about.  Basically, the majority of the parkrun is on a shared path and as it is quite busy (approx 300 runners) the start especially is quite crowded with runners.  I wasn't there, but by all accounts, just after the start of the run, a cyclist came through the pack, riding against the direction of the runners.  He later made a complaint to the parkrun organisers saying that he was verbally abused by a runner.  It later transpired from quite a few runners that, in fact, the cyclist in question actually seemed to speed up and was riding aggressively on the shared path, shouting "heads up, look up" into the oncoming runners.  Some wondered if he was doing his own time trial and got held up by the parkrun.  Probably a bit of give and take needed on all sides.

    PS, I'm a cyclist and a runner, but not necessarily in that order ;)
  • Reg WandReg Wand ✭✭✭
    Dustin - I ride in a club on group rides and we are perfectly organised for runners, a hand behind the back pointing right signals for the group to move out and the signal is repeated to the back of the group. There are also calls up the group when cars are front and back and we do allow and encourage cars to pass. We would change from two abreast to single file on a narrow road for instance.

    You will find the same with almost all triathlon and cycling clubs, there is often an initiation and rules to be obeyed to ride in the group. 

    I think it's important to recognise that we all encounter idiots and we shouldn't define them by the activity they partaking in at the time. You just end up hating the group of people who inconvenience you the most. So if you're a driver you're going to hate cyclist and if you're a runner you're more likely to have an issue with pedestrians or cyclists.

    My pet peeve is pedestrians that walk in groups taking up the whole pavement and don't cut in behind one another as you come the other way (running or walking). I have completely flattened a lad who was in a group of three mates and refused to move over so I picked up speed, dropped my shoulder a little and boom, it hurt a little but it was worth it :D


  • I know Keswick parkrun is on a shared track -but usually cyclists will pull over and watch the pack go past. I'd do that if I was cycling the opposite way.

    Maybe that cyclist at the other parkrun was late for an appointment or something ? It's give and take really - everyone has a right to be there - just don't be a jerk about it. Not sure telling runners to look where they are going was aggressive though ? 
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    I wasn't there Cougie, but on Strava/Facebook runners said he appeared to purposefully speed up and act in an aggressive way.  Probably he has his own side of the story too, but several runners said he was behaving aggressively (not just saying "heads up").  Possibly a runner said something like "slow down you t***", and he reported that as verbal abuse.
  • People need to chill out. Who needs hassle on a Saturday morning eh ? 
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  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    Another stupid runner. Why don't you run somewhere more intelligent than on the road?
    You know you're on a running site don't you.
  • The BusThe Bus ✭✭✭
    Wise words Colin - just jumbled into an wrong order that makes them a total pile of bollocks :smile:

    Of course there are some runners who go out on unsuitably dangerous roads and natural selection is whittling away at them. The vast majority of runners on roads are doing so on roads suitable for the purpose and exercising appropriate care.  As a general rule, a motorist should always be able to stop within the distance they can see - not "at the speed limit".


  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭
    Who is this Colon chap?

    🙂

  • I think it's safe to say he hasn't seen a country road in his life.  
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    We needed a thread like this to get some of the old regulars back :smile:
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